Thursday, October 29, 2009

Why hasn't this Weapon been Banned yet?

The following is an account of what is arguably the most dreadful weapon used in World War II.

This horribly efficient weapon was directly responsible for the death of over 48 million individuals between the years of 1933 and 1945. What is even more unlikely is the fact that, even in the years following the war, no effort was reliably made by the Western Nations to curb its use. The Soviet Union made many advances in controlling its use, but since the fall of that nation, it is becoming more and more prevalent in Russian Society.

In fact, huge quantities of this weapon have been made in the years following, and it is still being produced, in its various forms, to this day. Here in the United States and abroad, this weapon is being peddled to youths and minorities at an alarming rate. Millions upon millions of them have been sold this year alone. What is more, the owners of these death machines do not appear to consider them to be dangerous at all. In fact, at this moment I have one sitting in front of me. It sits there, looking innocent, when others of its ilk have the blood of many on them.

It was not introduced in World War II. The roots of this insidious machine reach far back through the annals of history. From its crude and humble origins, it has been the tool of genocide and violence. Still massed produced and sold, it has been customized and redesigned an untold number of times.

Still haven't guessed what tool this is?

Here's another hint: currently, there ARE nations that have managed to control its use, either by limiting its supply only to the government or by carefully monitoring its availability. In certain areas of the world, governments have even managed to nearly eliminate its use entirely.

2 comments:

Ahhhh! The pen IS mightier than the sword. This 'young buck' has good points. There is a great responsibility in what all of us feel we have to express to the public. We all have the ability to both kill and save with our words. However, I feel 'Wolfman' only speaks of the bad times throughout history. Remember how the pen influenced the Geneva Convention? I think that BOTH of us have got to stop bitching, and start figuring out ways to fix our current situation....In other words, we need to be optimistic and rather than telling each other what's wrong, let's tell each other how to resolve the current situation...I'm open to your ideas MR. Wolfman....bring it.

Mostly this post was a comment on the absurdity of only looking at one column of effects. Also, it was intended to be a commentary of judging the effects of a person, rather than the effects of a tool. In truth, though, I purposefully disregarded the positive effects that penmanship has had on history. Although the pen, AS A TOOL, was used to write out execution orders for millions of people in WWII, Medieval Monks used the same tool to preserve volumes of knowledge that would otherwise have been completely lost. The existence of writing and instruction have given mankind that means to record our history, that others might embrace and learn from it. In addition, the denial of writing and instruction has been another of the great injustices. The best advice I can give regarding the pen is to continue to know well its uses, and exercise them at every opportunity. We will continue to be judged on the content of our writing, rather than our tools be accorded the good or evil that is produced. If only all tools were so...